Monday, July 20, 2015

We have been harvesting tomatoes galore lately, despite using it in all the dishes and salads I could think of. I still have plenty them sitting in the fridge. Since A likes pasta a lot, I decided to make a batch of homemade pasta sauce with homegrown tomatoes and herbs for him.

The taste of naturally ripened tomatoes is simply delectable, nothing shop-bought could match, not even the organic ones!

Thursday, July 16, 2015

According to Wikipedia : Kati roll also known as Kathi Roll is street-food originating from Kolkata,India. Its original form was a kati kabab enclosed in a paratha, but over the years many variants have evolved all of which now go under the generic name of Kati Roll. Today, pretty much any filling rolled up in any kind of Indian flatbread is called a kati roll. Its a easy snack to make at home, with the help of frozen paratha from the shop!

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Sambal Shrimp is one of my all time favourites, I liked it so much that I can basically have it all the time! I also love the combination of sambal shrimp on top of brinjal, two of my favourites foods in one dish, it is such a rice magnet.

The brinjal is from my garden though, makes this dish all the more yummy!

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

My son A will be 3 in a few months, I can't believe how fast he grows into a toddler with a lot to say! This summer is one of the best as he is interested in learning differently kind of vegetables and fruits, we had so much fun planting and weeding together in the garden.I also brought him for grocery shopping a lot nowadays and let him pick whatever vegetables that he like.We had much fun learning different kinds of foods and veggies before buying.This stew was made in last winter after one of our shopping trip, he picked the frozen vegetables and I wanted him to have some protein so I added some organic chicken in the stew.This soup is so warming and satisfying, one pot could serve the whole family well.俊宝再过两个星期就30个月大了，看着他嗷嗷待哺到牙牙学语，到现在能够相当完整的表达自己的意愿，当妈妈的心里即安慰也不舍，好像还没有把他抱在怀里疼够呢！他就长这么大了。

Monday, July 13, 2015

My sweet friend Cally asked me whether I know how to make this Steamed Fried Rice sometimes ago. She said that the sauce was to die for and the rice so yummy. It got me curious and I recalled something I have read on a blog of a Philippino foodie - Dinner at Six Thirty, the writer also mentioned about this steamed fried rice and how yummy it was.

With the intention to know more about this dish, I started researching online and learnt that this is a Philippine version of "Chinese Dim Sum". Here is something I found online about the origin of this dish from this website :

"The Steam Fried Rice of Cebuis fried rice topped with shrimp and pork, and steamed in a rice cooker with its secret sauce. This was an original creation ofMr. Henry Uytengsu of Ding Qua Qua Dimsum Housein Cebu, which pionereed the all-day dimsum dining in 1969.

After Ding Qua Qua (1 branch) which offers a signature dimsum buffet, Mr. Uytengsu's group created Harbour City Dimsum House (3 branches) which featured the traditional dimsum carts wheeled to the customers' table-sides. They then created the mall-based Dimsum Break outlet (13 banches) to originally address the dining needs of the mall's late night foodies from the bowling alleys and cinemas.

True enough, the name "Dimsum Break" was inspired by taking breaks to eat dimsum during a bowling session. It is considered the Philippines' version of Panda Express."

As a Malaysian, I know only too well how interesting food could be with some local influence. As part of my effort to recreate this dish at home, I found a few recipes online and tweak my version based on my understanding of Cantonese dishes (which, is the origin of dimsum dishes.) .

The result is great and the taste superb! Though I never did try the original, this version I created is definitely satisfying and I will surely make it again!

Thursday, July 2, 2015

This summer we had our backyard cleaned and have someone built two raised bed for my vegetable garden. I had been composting all the waste from juicing into the soil I had the last few months, when I transferred the soil into my brand new raised bed I also added a couple of bags of organic soil. The results of good soil are really clear to see, my tomato plants are bearing fruits galore and we already harvest couple of cucumbers and peppers before mid of June, real early considering where we are.

My pepper plants really thrive well, it flowers a lot and bearing fruits already, its leaves are healthy and huge! I mean, really huge, as big as the size of my palm!

Chili leave is also a very good green to add on to cooking I harvest a bunch and made into this egg drop soup, it taste almost like spinach, only better.